Servier SAS is buying Day One Biopharmaceuticals Inc. for $21.50 per share, which amounts to a total equity value of about $2.5 billion. The Suresnes, France-based firm brings aboard from Day One, of Brisbane, Calif., type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor Ojemda (tovorafenib) for low-grade pediatric glioma, cleared by the U.S. FDA in April 2024, along with an oncology pipeline that includes candidates spanning from early stage to phase III. Day One shares (NASDAQ:DAWN) were trading at $21.16, up $8.38, or 65%.

Zealand touts efficacy, safety for petrelintide phase II obesity trial

Nearly a year after partnering with Roche AG in a potential $5.3 billion deal, Zealand Pharma A/S reported top-line results from a phase II trial showing its once-weekly amylin analogue, petrelintide, resulted in up to 10.7% mean body weight reduction at week 42 and demonstrated placebo-like tolerability, news that Zealand executives say positions the long-acting drug well heading into the phase III obesity study expected to start later this year. Investors, however, were looking for more pronounced weight loss findings, with shares of Zealand (Copenhagen:ZEAL) falling 36% to close March 6 at DKK234.90 (US$36.49).

Japan approves first iPSC therapy for Parkinson’s disease

Japan has approved the world’s first therapy derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), marking a major milestone for regenerative medicine and, potentially, a turning point in treating Parkinson’s disease. Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. said March 6 that Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare granted conditional and time-limited approval for Amchepry (raguneprocel), an allogeneic iPSC-derived dopaminergic neural progenitor cell therapy designed to improve motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease who no longer respond adequately to conventional drug therapy.

Minimed IPO raises $560M as it splits from Medtronic

Pricing shares at $20 each, below the intended price range, insulin delivery company Minimed Group Inc. debuted with an IPO on Nasdaq March 6, raising $560 million. The company offered a total of 28 million shares, which would have brought the Northridge, Calif.-based company $742 million if the IPO had priced at the midpoint of the $25-to-$28 price range disclosed in February. Minimed’s parent company, Medtronic plc, of Galway, Ireland, disclosed last May its intention to separate its diabetes operating unit from the larger company.

‘Dial is stuck’ on progress in female leadership in UK biotech

One year on from establishing the baseline on female representation in the U.K. biotech industry, the latest survey shows the “dial is stuck.” Since the first report, representation at the CEO level has crept from 18.3% to 18.7%. That is “a marginal gain that signals a plateau at a time when we need a breakthrough,” said Jane Wall, managing director of the U.K. Bioindustry Association, which compiled the statistics. Meanwhile, the number of women non-executive directors has shown a reversal of previous gains and fell from 21% to 9%. “We are calling out a lack of progress, with female leaders fighting against a new current,” Wall said, pointing a finger at the challenges to equality programs in the U.S.

Biopharma financings jump 81% in early 2026

Biopharma financings totaled $16.78 billion in the first two months of 2026, a substantial increase from $9.28 billion in January to February 2025, about an 81% year-over-year rise. February saw six biopharma IPOs worth $1.54 billion, the largest from Generate Biomedicines Inc., which raised $400 million. The Somerville, Mass.–based company's lead candidate, GB-0895, is a phase III-stage antibody targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin.

Korean ARPA-H to invest ₩162B in nine projects in 2026

The K-health MIRAE Initiative, also known as Korean ARPA-H, announced plans to allocate about ₩162 billion (US$110 million) in nine new projects over the next five years, with a focus on strengthening national health security. Project recruitment is set to begin in May 2026, with the funding to be awarded by July. Each project is expected to receive an average of ₩18 billion and run from July 2026 to December 2030, speakers said at a roundtable meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on March 5. “We launched the initiative to address challenging issues facing our nation,” K-health MIRAE Director General Sun Kyung told the audience.

Perimeter gets FDA nod for imaging device for breast cancer surgery

Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Inc. secured FDA premarket approval for Claire, its AI-powered imaging device that detects difficult-to-see cancer during breast-conserving surgery. Claire combines AI with wide-field optical coherence tomography to provide surgeons with high-resolution, real-time views of excised tumor margins, to reduce the need for re-operations.

Brain’s hidden tau-clearing pathway uncovered

Researchers at INSERM and collaborators have identified hypothalamic tanycytes as mediators of tau clearance and shown that their structural and genetic disruption may drive Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. AD is characterized by the buildup of extracellular amyloid-β plaques and intracellular tau tangles, protein aggregates that disrupt neuronal function and drive neurodegeneration. Besides, in AD, tau is also present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in post-translationally modified soluble forms. The CSF is believed to act as an intermediate pathway for tau on its way out of the CNS. Tau moves from the brain into the CSF and blood, but its fast clearance hints at additional, unknown pathways.

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